Girls bowling at Naperville Central is underway, with the team competing in a tournament and a match against Downers Grove North at Lisle Lanes on Nov. 11. 

They claimed a recent victory against Waubonsie Valley in an away match on Dec. 2, sweeping all three games and scoring a 2,037 pin total, the ninth best score in school history.

“It’s going pretty well,” said junior and varsity bowler Skye Sanford.     “Even though our team is mostly new people this year.”

Despite the challenge of a team made up of mostly newcomers, Redhawk bowling has gotten straight to work. 

“Most of the team graduated,” said Sanford. “We’re actually off to a pretty good start considering most of the team just started to learn a week ago.”

Sanford herself has made significant progress and left her mark on the program.

At a match against Downers Grove North, Sanford had a 934 pin six-game series, becoming the third girl in school history to break 900 pins. 

Bowling is not a part-time commitment. For bowlers, most days are spent practicing or competing.

“We have bowling four days a week,” said Sanford. “When we don’t have games, we have practice.”

Sanford also scored a 210 game at Downers Grove North, the fourth highest score in school history. 

The team’s social dynamic has been a point of strength for coaches and players.

“I love the atmosphere,” varsity coach Steven Ondrus said. “We’ve got a really great group of girls that want to do well.”

Even though the team is mostly newcomers, they haven’t stopped making progress.

“Our team average has already gone up 68 pins in just the first two weeks,” said Ondrus. “There’s so much positivity and sportsmanship amongst themselves.”

The pandemic has not had a negative impact on the team’s membership.

“Other schools in the conference have seen a decrease in girls coming out,” said Ondrus. “We’ve seen an increase.”

This increase in players has allowed the team to become more competitive and engaging.

“It’s been exciting because we’ve been able to run two levels,” said Ondrus. “We have varsity and JV.” 

The team competes in matches, where two teams engage in head to head competition, and tournaments, which are larger events in which many teams from surrounding areas compete. 

On Jan 3, the team will compete against Yorkville at home for their first match after winter break. 

Girls interested in bowling can find information in Room 126, Ondrus’s room.